1. Statement of the Technical Field
The inventive arrangement relates to antennas and more particularly to an antenna mount for use on a military vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Radio communications between the crew of a military land vehicle with the crews of other military land vehicles, command headquarters, ground personal, and aircraft involved in a common mission is of critical importance during military operations. Also important is the ability of a military land vehicle to receive Global Positioning System information for navigational purposes.
An antenna for receiving and transmitting such information is preferably mounted external to a military vehicle and is typically mounted in a separate housing. For certain applications, and particularly for military ground vehicles, the antenna mount must be a sturdy mount which can withstand substantial forces on the antenna such as occurs when the antenna contacts trees or other structures.
Many military vehicles are armor plated and typically are provided with only one or two standard openings in their bodies for the placement of an antenna. As a result of political changes in various places throughout the world, military vehicles manufactured in different countries such as, for example Russia, China, and the former Soviet Union, are increasingly being used in a unified military force with vehicles operated by countries that are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (hereinafter NATO). Consequently, a need exists for all vehicles in the exercise to have communication equipment which is compatible to NATO standards. Presently, military vehicles from some of these countries are not equipped with an antenna mount opening pattern which is compatible with or configured to accept an antenna used by NATO. In addition, armor plated vehicles which have an antenna mount opening which is not configured to meet NATO standards cannot be readily modified to accommodate an antenna mount which is designed to NATO specifications.
Known antenna mounts for military vehicles and the like, typically include a housing having an upper portion which extends beyond an outer wall of the vehicle and supports a flexible antenna, while a lower portion of the housing extends through the vehicle wall for connecting the antenna to radio apparatus. Such antenna mounts are attached only to the top of the armor plate of the vehicle with the existing bolts on the vehicle which hold the antenna mount to the vehicle. Also known from the prior art are mounting kits which use an additional mount at another location on the vehicle. Such mounts normally replace the existing antenna mounts and may change the profile of the antenna mount to a significant extent. Furthermore, such antenna mounts are not designed to withstand the forces that the antenna structure of armored military vehicles frequently experience.
It is desirable, therefore, to provide a rugged antenna mount for an armored vehicle which does not require modification to the exterior wall of the vehicle.